The year is slipping away by the minute!
I mean, I guess that’s always true, every minute of every day. But I can count it on my fingers now, and that makes it seem really real.
We’ve had a pretty low-key holiday – no airplanes! No week-long stays in hotels while cramming in visits to various family members. And, mercifully, no one has been sick. (Knock on wood. We’re not quite done with 2017 yet, are we?)
But because our families are all spread out, we did find ourselves over the river and through the woods. At one point, we landed in the Tomcat Cafe, located in the heart of tiny Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. Should you find yourself in Berks County, run – don’t walk. It was that good.
I mention because a) it was so very delicious, but really b) because of a name story. I’d been wondering about Tomcat ever since my brother told me where we’d be meeting. As we finished our breakfast, I asked our server about it. Nearly everything in the tiny cafe has a music-themed name. You can order the “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” the “I’ll Stop the World and Melt With You,” or the “Cherry Bomb.” So was I missing a famous song or musician?
Nope. Turns out the owner named the restaurant for his grandfather, Tom. Apparently he whittled wooden cats – or somewhere earned the nickname Tomcat.
Great names have meaning – meaning that we might not even always understand in our lifetimes.
Elsewhere online:
- Happy Anniversary to Namenculture! She’s celebrating with a great year-end review.
- The most popular baby names in Idaho look an awful lot like the most popular baby names everywhere. But check out the unusual names listed! Junedarling, Baelfire, and Moonlight. And that’s just 2016!
- Nancy looks at Hoby. It got a boost from a Western, but interestingly, the first Hoby I met used it as a nickname for Howard.
- Wait, what?! A girl named Heaven Nevaeh. Typo? Or is there one heck of a story here? I actually think the combination sounds rather appealing. (Found via Clare’s always diverting Scoop.it page.)
- Lux is my pick for Kim and Kanye’s new baby, and I suggested Key back when they were expecting Saint. But I’m intrigued by other names on this list, especially Muse.
- On a similar note: I suspect I’m going to love whatever name Chrissy Teigen and John Legend choose for Luna’s little sister or brother.
- Duana raises an interesting Q in this column. Parents often want to avoid names being shortened, but how ’bout when they’re elaborated? She has an example of a Ben – just Ben, to avoid nicknames – being called Benjamin by friends.
- Names from the same generation tend to sound like a matched set as time passes.
- Oh, I do like these romantic girl names.
- Filipa names Francisca the name of the year. Interesting!
That’s all for this week. (And this year!) As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
Thank you so much for all your hard work this year!
Happy New Year!
The elaboration of a short name hits home with me. We adopted a dog whose shelter name was Will. We kept it and it’s his “official” name, but my daughter and I almost always call him William. I can easily see that happening with people with similar names.